Experiments in Terror has finally arrived!

Experiments in Terror at Samhain Horror Publishing

Experiments in Terror at Amazon

Experiments in Terror Barnes and Noble

Today is May the 5th, Cinco de Mayo for some, and for me, a mark of a rebirth of my own.

Experiments in Terror is a print book, the first horror print book published since Mistress of the Dark from Leisure Books around 2006. It is comprised of two novellas, Captured Souls and Flesh Failure.

This book has themes of resurrection, rebirth, love, lust, horror, narcissism, and more. It has been freeing for me to return to the horror genre and I believe that is where I'm carving out my niche for now.

Experiments in Terror required massive historical research for Flesh Failure and even some research for some of the technological and neurological concepts in Captured Souls. I didn't really look at Frankenstein by Mary Shelley during these re-imaginings as I've read it while writing other homages such as Cyber-Prometheus and Aries: Swinging Into Spring.

Captured Souls uses the diary of the mad scientist as its narrative device. This story follows Dr. Miriam Frederick as she tracks Experiment 698 in her journals. Her current premise is to isolate the sensation of "falling in lust and love" and keep it indefinitely. She hopes to build a family to realize her vision. Her hypnotic methods include music, drugs, and sex on unsuspecting specimens. 

Specimen 1 is a brilliant novelist. He has the intelligence she craves.

Specimen 2 is an athlete. He has the stamina she desires.

Specimen 3 is a gorgeous woman. She has the physical attributes.

Dr. Miriam keeps her specimens in the secret lab in the basement of her Gothic mansion. By day, she teaches at the University. By night she haunts sex clubs and conducts her experiments.

How far will Dr. Miriam go to get what she desires?

Find out in Captured Souls.

Flesh Failure is told in first person from the point of view of the creation, Agatha, who was left for dead in 1888. She pulls herself together and sets off to White Chapel where she attempts to earn a living. However, her hideous looks and foul smell seem more fitting for a freak show. While she looks for the Elephant Man and is wary of Jack the Ripper, she searches for the doctor who created her. 

Will she find her answers in the fog-shrouded streets of London?

Although both of these stories have related themes and subject matter, I never envisioned them as being together in a book, ever. So when Don D'Auria suggested it, I was thrilled.

When I first wrote Captured Souls, I wasn't sure what I was writing. I wrote it in various voices and played with third person narrative a bit. I thought about weaving the story from each person's POV but didn't feel capable of the expertise that would require when I was still emotionally drained from  dealing with some real life stuff. In the end, I chose the journal format because it's fun. It allowed me to write in small snippets as I rediscovered my passion once more after a couple of years of not writing. 

The original form of Captured Souls was much shorter. Right now, Captured Souls is around 55,000 words. Nearly a novel. The original finished product was 17,000 words. At the time, it felt momentous that I'd finished a piece even that long-short. I was in a place in my head where I thought I'd never write again yet I had this story that proved me wrong. 

It took a couple of years to create the piece that is in Experiments in Terror. This final product is a work that I'm proud of and it is my dear hope that others enjoy reading at least parts of it.

How Flesh Failure was created is another matter entirely. Samhain Horror was taking submissions for Gothic novellas. I wrote Flesh Failure with that goal in mind. I didn't get into the anthology but I did get to publish with Samhain just the same and that's all I wanted at the end of the day. 

As I hold my new baby, Experiments in Terror, in my hands, I remember what a rush it is to see my own words on paper. It's like there's a little place in the world for me now and it shines a bit of light in. Next to be published is the erotic horror novella, A Penny Saved. I'm hard at work on a new novel, a full novel, my first in many years. It's been slow going, what with this thing called a life and all, but I'm getting it done!

Please let me know what you think about Experiments in Terror with your comments at the end or on any of the online review sites such as Amazon or Goodreads. All authors appreciate your comments and reviews. Without them, we wouldn't know if you like us or hate us or something in-between! 

I always appreciate it when someone takes the time out of his or her day to leave me a review. And thank you to all who do it!

Oh, Dandy, How I'm Going to Miss You!

Superdeduper Spoileramas for American Horror Story: FreakShow

I began watching American Horror Story: FreakShow during the second part of the two-part Mordrake story arc. I didn't really like the Dandy character much and thought he was totally out of place in the FreakShow universe.

I eventually was able to finally view the series from the first episode right up until Tupperware Party in pretty much a two-day binge.

The character of Dandy made way more sense to me, obviously, and I fell in love with his man-baby, blood bathing, puppet-making ways.

When we first meet him, he's wide-eyed at the FreakShow and wants to become part of it. He knows he's "different" and hopes that maybe the freaks will accept him. He also wants to buy the twins who have two heads and one body. His mom gives it a shot but Elsa refuses to sell them. Dandy also wants to become part of the FreakShow but Elsa turns him down.

Dandy is bummed out and bored. He's well read and loves the theatre. He dreams of becoming an actor, a star, but his mom won't let him become common theatre folk. However, she attempts to cheer him up by renting him a clown that she finds wandering the road. Of course, she has no idea that Twisty the Clown is a demented serial killer.

Dandy plays with the clown a bit, but the clown isn't into his puppet shows. The clown is bored of Dandy and knocks him out. Dandy wakes up and follows him, likely for revenge, but he has the time of his life when he sees what Twisty is really all about.

It is around this time that the audience sees the character of Dandy evolve through an arc that is actually carrying into the final episode.

Along the way, Dandy finally gets to have his twins in his playroom and he's thrilled and spoils them rotten. One of the twins falls in love with him. The other twin loves Jimmy the Lobster Boy. The twins leave when Jimmy discovers where they are and takes them back to the circus.

Dandy is beyond despair at the loss of his loves. He wanted to marry them. Even worse, they lose their virginity to a crazy ventriloquist and Dandy has the pictures, provided by his P.I. We actually feel sorry for Dandy when he realizes what's happened. When he says, "They were supposed to be mine," we know that this isn't over by a long shot.

Now, at the end of the latest episode, "Show Stoppers" Dandy owns the circus and essentially, owns the twins, again. What a thrilling and chilling moment!

Storyline, character, actor, director, and photographer have combined to create a work of horror art/iconic psychopath that hasn't been done in a while. Dandy was already a costume this past Halloween and that was before the Dandy/Finn Wittrock fan base blew up.

Dandy is a perfect commentary of the modern psychopath/sociopath/narcissist. Material greed, selfishness, hovering narcissistic mom, unlimited resources, and boredom is indicative of many households in modern times. Even without unlimited resources in a family, a narcissist usually manages to find a way to get others to pay. Dandy is the modern man-baby, it's all about him. His bedroom is like a child's nursery though he's a grown man, perhaps early twenties? It doesn't matter that FreakShow isn't a modern story, the parable is, on many levels.

Fun things about Dandy is that he drinks booze from a crystal baby bottle. He's obsessed with his looks. He likes puppets and theatre. He likes learning new skills. He's not afraid of exotic adventures. It's all about what he wants though he doesn't know what he really wants except to be an actor, well, until he decides he's much more.

Where I went from not really like this character to thinking he was the best thing I'd seen in forever occurred when he was sawing off Matt Bomer's arm. Sure I loved seeing him running around in his undies, especially both of them together. Absolutely. But Dandy was just another pretty spoiled TV-show boy until that moment. That classic moment when he's sawing off the arm, and Matt is still alive. Dandy has the best moments there. I was laughing and horrified at actor Finn Wittrock's brilliance. How hammy that could have been (don't get me wrong, this character is over-the-top but it IS about freaks and showbiz) or how wooden as so many other "psycho" actors can be. Finn hit the mark and it rocked.

He had a couple of now classic lines that he delivered magnificently as well throughout the series that have been made into countless memes. Especially some of his comments to Twisty. They are priceless. That Julliard training paid off for Finn Wittrock.

Dandy's droll observations really make for great entertainment. And really, that's all I want in any show. To be entertained. So thank you writers.

When the curtain comes down tomorrow, Dandy will be gone. It doesn't matter if he dies or not, the magic of this character creation in this season is over. Dandy Mott will live on in reruns but we'll never see anything original about him again. I'm sure Murphy is well aware of how many new fans Finn Wittrock has garnered and will likely put him in Season Five and who knows? Dandy may make an appearance or Finn may play someone else, as he's stated he wants to do in various interviews. But Dandy will never be Dandy how we know Dandy now. So enjoy him tomorrow night no matter what happens in the plot.

I will miss Dandy and his crazy adventures.

Can't wait for tomorrow's final episode.



Added thought:
Long ago we saw the twins in a bottle at the museum. I guess that this was just a fantasy?

It would be kind of cool if somehow Dandy became curator of the museum as well and put his beloved twins in his collection after they meet their demise.

I also had high hopes that Stanley's appendage would end up in a bottle as well.

What do you think?

American Horror Story: Series and Season One Musings

American Horror Story

American Horror Story musings with tons of spoileramas for all the seasons!

With American Horror Story: FreakShow wrapping up in two episodes, I decided it was high time to sit down and watch the first two seasons once and for all. Luckily I’m a Rogers subscriber and a new service they’ve started called Showmi is offering the first three seasons. Even luckier, the first month of Showmi is free so there’s no excuse to not do my homework.

I completed my American Horror Story: Murder House viewing in the wee hours of the morning after watching it for about two days. I will confess, I had tried to watch it twice before when it was on FX. Once was on the day it actually started and the other when it was in reruns last year during Coven-time. However, both times it failed to hold my interest past the first little while. Mostly it was the less-than-stellar acting.

Several good horror writing pals told me that I’d like Murder House if I’d just get into it. And they were right. I like it very much. It was way better to watch it binge-viewing. And as a Rosemary’s Baby fan, I loved that part of it.

My first gut instinct comment is that Evan Peters has evolved and matured amazingly as an actor over the seasons. His work in Murder House is acceptable, he didn’t really have to do much as hunky horny FrankenTeen in Coven but as Jimmy the Lobster Boy in FreakShow, he deserves awards. I can’t wait to see him in Asylum which I’m starting tonight.

It was fun to watch Murder House after seeing Coven and FreakShow first. There are some little bits that tie the series together that are fun to spot. It’s also fun to see all the tropes and homages to other horror stories (hence the title of the series); some obvious, some not so much.

The first real line of dialogue in Episode One, Season One of American Horror Story is: “Hey, Freak!”  If you’ve been watching FreakShow, you know that freak is the operative word, especially with Jimmy yelling, “We’re not freaks,” a thousand times an episode.

Rosemary’s Baby is hugely spotlighted with Jessica Lange as a Ruth Gordon-type character. There are way too many Rosemary’s Baby references to get into. However, I loved the eating of the raw brains as one of my favourite scenes in RB is when Mia Farrow as Rosemary is chomping on raw liver. I’ve had those cravings myself when pregnant (craving raw steak, not brains) so it’s always fun to see a pregnant lady with extreme iron-deficiency cravings.

Evan Peters as Tate is very much playing a Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange character. I always thought Peters had a McDowell look about him, but they just plain out shot him a la Kubrick in a couple of scenes to drive it home! Love it.

As I mentioned, I didn’t totally buy Peters’ portrayal of his character. Of course, it’s hard playing a ghost playing a psychopath. I wonder too if perhaps it had something to do with the directing. The female psychopath Hayden played by Kate Maya in Murder House was terrible. I’m sorry to say that, I wanted to like her as we all know, I love psychopaths. She looked like Avril Lavigne trying to act like a bad girl. (I've never bought into Avril Lavigne as a Goth Grrl either.) I didn’t buy the black eye-liner, and she just didn’t feel real. Maybe she’s too nice in real life to find the evil inside of herself to be a husband-stealing-baby-stealing little bitch. I just didn’t buy her performance at all. I barely believed her as a mistress and didn’t believe her at all as a stalker. She gets points for trying. I’m not sure what didn’t work for me.

I guess the problem with seeing Murder House after FreakShow is that FreakShow is high voltage bloodbath orgy-ridden roller coaster ride while Murder House is slow slow slow. In FreakShow, Finn Wittrock expertly plays psychopath Dandy in larger than life manner; every nuance, every finger twitch, every lip quiver, every eyebrow lift is carefully calculated in a dance of perfection between actor, director, and camera. The actors playing psychopaths in Murder House don’t have the same level of intensity, perhaps direction, and so the performances feel weaker and don’t ring as true. There isn’t that level of audience fear about what the psychopath will do next, that anything can go horribly wrong at any minute in Murder House that you get with Dandy’s scenes in FreakShow. Dandy is a tightly wound violin string that can snap at any minute, and it's not predictable exactly when that snap is gonna happen. Peters character just doesn't have that same intensity although as a school-shooter mom-raping psychopath, he should.

Interesting that there was a very specific chair flip camera pov shot that is in Murder House and FreakShow and I think in Coven as well. It may well be a famous shot from some horror movie, I don't know.

There are lots of puppet and doll references in Murder House. We all know about the puppets in FreakShow. Dandy plays with his puppet theatre a lot and makes his own puppets out of mom and Tupperware lady. And there was a psycho doll hoarder who made a girl into his own doll in Coven. The ventriloquist doll/Jamie Brewer in FreakShow is going to be a big plot point this week, I think.

Murder House has a Dr. Frankenstein, in Coven we have a Frankenteen. In FreakShow, Elsa has wooden legs. Lobster Boy needs new hands to name a couple of numerous Frankenstein references.

Jamie Brewer wears a mask and make-up in Murder House and plays a ventriloquist doll in Freakshow. She sees dead people in Murder House and Coven and likely FreakShow. Chester wears the same over-exaggerated make-up in FreakShow that she does in Murder House.

There’s a character named Fiona in Murder House. Jessica Lange plays a Fiona in Coven.

Not sure how I feel about the Freddy Krueger stuff.

There’s a scene where Constance is painting a pair of lady legs in Murder House. Elsa has wooden legs in FreakShow.

Is the little boy in the Murder House Dandy? Yet it can’t be since Dandy was born by his mom, a product of inbreeding with relatives. And Dandy is just like his dad. In Murder House, Tait is the dad. Or was Dandy adopted or switched? We never saw his birth. Of course, I have to go back and look at the timeline, it likely wouldn’t make sense.

How is Tait a dad? How does a ghost make a baby? Or is he a demon, devil? We never learn what the original source of the horror of the murder house was. Yes, it was built for Lily Rabe by a Frankennut, but what was there before THAT? What made Frankendoc the original horror? There's a whole plot point where Sara Paulson tells us there's an original evil and made it sound like it was a demon or a portal, but then it was never addressed again. Or maybe I dozed off...

In Murder House, since it's in California, there are a few characters over the eras who want to be famous movie stars. A few are satisfied that their grisley deaths make them famous. In Coven, Emma Roberts is a famous movie star. Of course, Madam LaLaurie and Marie Laveau are famous in NOLA folklore, as were Axman and several others who showed up. In FreakShow, the driving theme is fame. Elsa wants to be famous, she almost was, and then she was for grisly reasons (much like some of the people in Murder House) and then she has another chance to be famous and won't stop at anything to make it happen. Dandy wants to be an actor and if his mom had just let him do some community theatre, he wouldn't have tried to become a clown and then found his true calling: Playing God.

Major Series Theme takeaways: puppet makers, other people "working the strings," Pinnochio, Frankenstein, God Complex, being famous/movie stars, parts sewn to parts, loves lost, perversions win, and the real freaks are those who are warped/evil on the inside no matter how beautiful they are on the outside...

Overall, I enjoyed Season One and am glad I took the time to watch it. 

American Horror Story FreakShow : Magical Thinking Thoughts

As always, lots of spoilers!

I've come to accept that American Horror Story will always be disjointed and scrambled so I've given up on plot lines and any real resolutions. Hell, I still have a mountain of questions from "Coven!"

However, I'm along for the ride on the FreakShow merry-go-round and with only two episodes left, I'm not looking for anything but an entertaining slice-and-dice finale.

The writers of AHS: FREAKSHOW likely had no idea that the character of Dandy would have such a huge cult following. Although people loved Twisty, the character of Dandy has taken psychopath love to new heights. And I'm right on that bandwagon myself. So even though we've been going nuts waiting to get a Dandy "fix" again after three weeks, he wasn't even in the episode until almost halfway through. Before he showed up, I was getting depressed that it would be like the last episode with Pepper, no Dandy at all. But yes, he was there, scheming away.

I've been trying to decipher why "regular" folk are falling in love with creepy killer Dandy. I don't have to figure out my own personal love for him; I'm a horror writer and have had handsome/beautiful psychopaths in several of my stories and have a weakness for bad boys as my romantic history can attest. And he bathes in blood! Gotta love him!

However, lucky for Finn Wittrock, the rest of the world loves this creepy psycho too! I'm sure his acting card will be filled for years to come. I'm not familiar with his other work, yet, though I fully intend to get acquainted with it. I do find it interesting in my own little mind that he was on All My Children, the only soap I ever watched, which I watched for about twenty years, but stopped several years ago. Obviously I've never seen him on it. And with him in Angelina Joilie's new movie, his starvation days are likely now safely behind him. And if anyone ever makes my novella, Captured Souls (Samhain Horror, 2014), into a movie, I want Finn Wittrock to play Specimen One, who is not a psychopath but he's an egotistical writer being held captive by one!

Dandy's storyline is great fun and any actor would likely love to play him. Finn's nuances are fabulous. Since I've had my own real life run-ins with psychopaths, I have to say he does a great job. His mood swings, the bursting into tears at the drop of a hat, his maniacal smiles, his quivering lip petulance, the man-child innocence, and of course, working out in his underwear, are all very well done. So far, he's not turned Dandy into a crazy cartoon, and likely, this is why we've all fallen in love with him.

Not a lot of guys could pull off that crazy fur coat on the merry-go-round either, but Dandy-Finn does! As soon as I find a good picture from that scene, I'll put it up here.

I found a Dandy-Finn coat picture!

Okay, enough of my Dandy-thoughts. With two episodes left, I have some comments to make.

Why did we waste the first ten (?) minutes of the episode with Jimmy and the hand amputations? We already knew there were two lobster hands in the jar from weeks ago. All we needed to know was if they were in fact  Jimmy's or a relative's. Since we already knew he lost them both, it wasn't a surprise or even a horror. Also, Jimmy was painted as somewhat savvy in this series yet he was easily hoodwinked for this horrific amputation.

I guess instead of Jimmy using lobster hands, he can use those stumps to please the ladies...

If Esmeralda saw his hands and fainted in the other episode, why didn't she rush to the jail to see if he was okay, even though she was getting the Ma Petite jar? I guess she'll go see him in the next episode.

I have no idea why Elsa sold the circus to Chester. Does he have a thousand dollars? He looks like he doesn't have one dollar! Did they have a payment plan? Yes, I understand that she thinks he's "well-heeled" yet on the other hand, she was creeped out by him as well and could have pulled the contract.

The whole twins suddenly deciding they don't need diaries any more was weird. And the whole losing their virginity quest was odd too in a way, although both the girls have fallen in love with others; one with Jimmy, the other with Dandy. Yet neither one even thought about their "loves" during any of this! And why weren't they utterly creeped out by Chester and his doll, although I suppose you sort of have to get it where you can when you have two heads. A threesome/foursome with the twins, Jimmy and Dandy would be way more delicious than with Chester and his creepy doll!


When Dandy's PI tells him how the twins were frolicking with the ventriloquist, Dandy's really bummed out. And we feel sorry for him. And we fear for Chester. Dandy really had the hots for one of the girls, if not both!

Sure enough, Dandy takes Chester's precious Marjorie and taunts him about it. It would be way too easy for Dandy to just kill Chester. Dandy is a psychopath and is going to have a good time playing cat and mouse until he finally kills him. If he does. Maybe Chester will kill Dandy.

Is sawing the twins in half Dandy's spiteful idea? Did he plant the idea in Marjorie's/Chester's head? Is Marjorie really just a little doll on the stage that Chester hears speaking to him at the end of the episode? Did Dandy hire someone to act like the doll to instruct Chester to kill the twins? But if Chester hears the doll and then if someone is acting like the doll, will there be two dolls? If Dandy put the doll on the stage in the big top, he obviously has a plan. He wouldn't just give the doll back so that's why the ending is confusing.

What happened to the two-headed puppet that Dandy made of mom and the Tupperware lady? Is it rotting and collecting flies somewhere now that he has no servants to clean up after him? Is his mansion a mess now? Did he hire new staff? Has anyone noticed mom's not around?

Has he used up all his bathing blood? Does he need more? Is there a fly problem at the mansion?

Dandy has one of the best scenes in the episode (again). When the PI is telling him about how Chester murdered his wife and lover, Dandy's expression and comment is priceless and already the stuff of a thousand memes. "What a sicko!" and then he gets all child-like with glee. "Tell me, how did they die?"

I don't doubt that there will be a big Dandy/Chester showdown, literally. If Chester knew that Dandy wanted to be an actor, he likely could have bargained with him for a part in the circus since Chester now owns it. Or Chester could sell Dandy the circus and then Dandy could have the twins as pets again! But of course, Chester doesn't know that Dandy has it in for him or even who Dandy is. Chester went from kind of normal chameleon lover salesman to bat-shit crazy in forty minutes. Good job, Neil Patrick Harris.

So, two episodes to go! I can't wait to see what happens next.

Let me know your thoughts and predictions in the comments!

American Horror Story: Shows and The Interview

First I'll share my thoughts about this week's episode of American Horror Story.


American Horror Story: FreakShow

All week I'd been waiting to see what crazy deeds Dandy would do next But alas, they chose not to include his storyline this week.

That's AMS for you.

I came into the series at Coven but even then, I saw what they would do and should have expected it. Just when you get entranced by a specific storyline, the writers switch gears and do something else.

Pepper's story on FreakShow was fine. However, it felt like filler after the past two weeks of mayhem. The story is creepy and certainly was well done. I hadn't seen Asylum but I figured that this was one of the tie-ins that I'd read about in the past.

I'm not sure if it matters what happened to Pepper.

I'm not sure I really cared about the story. I kept waiting for the "real" plot lines, the museum, crazy Jessica, the other freaks, and of course, Dandy.

I liked the story of Pepper. However, when I know that this season is near to the finish line, I wanted to stay with the other stories.

I'm of two minds about the episode.

I'm looking forward to the addition of Neil Patrick Harris as a psycho ventriloquist.


The Interview

Was it a publicity stunt?

Is Hollywood really bowing down to the whims of a political figurehead of another country?

Even days later, I'm of two minds about what should have been done about The Interview.

It seems ridiculous for a political leader to dictate the entertainment content in another country. Sony should ignore them despite the hacking.

On the other hand, Sony has a social responsibility for its customers. In this day and age, one can't be too careful about threats. There is an uproar because they cancelled. There would be an uproar if something should happen, whether related to the threats or by an unrelated lone wolf.

Sony is in a difficult position and I don't envy their task.


My Five Wives SisterWives

I should have placed bets.

When I first saw the trailers for the show My Five Wives, I had the fleeting thought that Kody of SisterWives would take a fifth wife to keep up. After all, that's what a narcissist does. And who knows? Maybe Brady will take a sixth!

I'm not certain if Kody is really taking a fifth wife or if TLC is just teasing us and its really a sister or an exchange student or some other visitor moving into the Brown's. I'll Google it later. Who knows what's going to happen with the Browns in the new season in January.

As for My Five Wives, all I can say is that I'm surprised Brady didn't have a heart attack earlier. However the stress of five wives, one pregnant, twenty-four kids, job, and school, he has a lot on his plate. Since he was tweeting tonight, he obviously will be okay.

Happy Solstice!

American Horror Story:FreakShow What a Dandy Blood Bath!

Sometimes when I'm watching American Horror Story, I like to watch the live tweets. The other night, during the Tupperware party, several tweeters lamented how psychopaths are always so hot!

And often they are.

After all, how else can they charm and hypnotise their targets?

They also need to pump themselves up to perform their dastardly deeds. A bit of preening and they're all set for a night of the old ultra-violence.

This is where I found this A Clockwork Orange pic.

Their victims are often innocents who chance to cross their paths. However, if psychopaths spot an opportunity to taunt and goad, they'll take it.

The character of Dandy is proving to be a Class A charismatic Ted Bundy/American Psycho/Paul Bernardo-inspired wack-a-doo.

I will confess, I missed the first few episodes of American Horror Story: FreakShow which so far, hasn't proven to be an issue so I've not felt compelled to watch them On Demand. I came in while the plot of Twisty was in its final two episodes and a spectre of death dude was being introduced.

I'm not sure if the recurrence of Ethel this week is a thread related to that death dude, and if it's not, it's too bad.

At any rate, it seems like that was around the time Dandy came to the forefront of the plot lines.

Even though I've yet to see a freak show on Freakshow, I'm enjoying the spoiled baby antics of this psychopath.

This is where I found this picture.

Anyone who has read any of my work knows that I often visit the themes of psychopaths (Mistress of the Dark, Captured Souls, "All Paths Lead to Psychopath") and bathing in blood (Borrowed Flesh, "Blood Countess"), and  sometimes entwine the two, as is historically done both in reality and in fiction. So to see Dandy bathing in the blood of his doting mom, of Tupperware ladies, and more, while growing stronger (and crazier) in the process, is fun to watch.

This is where I found the blood bath scene.

Real life horrors exist every day, yes. But American Horror Story is just good old-fashioned extreme fun. Or at least that's how I viewed Coven and FreakShow. I've not seen the other seasons yet.

Sure you can drive a truck through plot holes and character motivations. But the visuals and most of the acting from most of the characters are worth watching.

I'll be the first to say the I loved Coven but hated the ending. It should have been two seasons to explore more of the sub-plots and tie up loose ends.

I was a huge fan of Carnivale back in the day. I lived for that show. When it was cancelled, my world was a darker place. I hated how they wrapped that one up as well. But I forgave it as the plot should have had another year or two to unfold, not suddenly race to a conclusion within weeks.

FreakShow has a flavour of the Carnivale we miss. The dirty gritty circus life. The mysteries and tediousness of day-to-day existence. Corruption and temptation; how far is too far?

In a way, I wish FreakShow had more supernatural elements but again, there are already so many plots that more would be too confusing.


Here's a link to one of many recaps from this week:
American Horror Story Freak Show Recap Tupperware Episode

However, back to psychopaths.

This is where I found this image from A Clockwork Orange.

Some of the most compelling characters in life and in fiction are psychopaths. Look at Charles Manson! He just got engaged and he's a crazy old man in prison for life. Yet he still has that psychopath charm that managed to ensnare a target.

Psychopaths are scary characters because they are real. We hear about them all the time. Serial killers. Serial cheaters. Serial thieves.

This is where I found this picture of Dandy from AHS: FreakShow

Dandy has many of the traits of a good psychopath but he'll likely come to a horrible end as he grows too cocky. He hasn't really thought through his money situation and I'm not clear if he's smart enough to figure out how to survive financially forging his mom's name or whatever needs to be done.


What do you think about Dandy? Do you like him as a character? Is he too over the top? Too creepy?

How do you think he'll die? Will he go on to be a psycho in the after-dead clown parade?

Here's where I found this picture of yummy sicko Dandy!

Captured Souls - Samhain Publishing is Almost Here!

Captured Souls

Captured Souls is available right now as a pre-order! Be ready to read when it comes out on February 4!

After you've read Captured Souls, please be certain to leave me reviews on  your favourite sites such as Samhain, Amazon, or Goodreads. Reviews are the best feedback for an author to see what the readers like and don't like about a work. Whenever you have a minute, whip up a little review for books you've read and enjoyed or even not enjoyed by your favourite author.

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Captured Souls is a mad scientist tale that explores themes of control, lust, and obsession in a modern setting.

"In Captured Souls--her latest erotic thrill ride, Sèphera Girón has created a terrifying new character: a female rendition of Dr. Frankenstein given to detailed scientific human experimentation combined with the sexually predatory and obsessive nature of Nabokov's Humbert Humbert. Horrific and unforgettable."
 --Lisa Mannetti, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Gentling Box and Deathwatch

A queasily beguiling blend of erotica and body horror, Sèphera Girón's Captured Souls pits a sexy female mad scientist with a literal fetish for fleshy modification against the self-set challenge of not just finding the perfect lover, but making one. Think Frankenstein in a bustier, with a cool, sleek, Cronenbergian edge. The result is an imaginative Grand Guignol freakout with porno flair, pumped full of dry black humor and nasty surprises, explicit in every way possible--overall, quite disgustingly entertaining.

--Gemma Files, Hexslinger Series

Sèphera Girón knocks that stereotypical male sexual predator on his head.  You won't find another book like this one out there.  If you want lust, insanity and horror plaited together into one easy and fun-to-read diabolical story, Captured Souls is for you! 

--Nancy Kilpatrick, Writer - Power of the Blood, Editor - Expiration Date

Tiny clip from Captured Souls

Captured Souls - Samhain Publishing

Honey BooBoo and Other ...thoughts...

I suppose it’s time for another Honey BooBoo moment.

Yes, I’ve been watching the show. Those who know me know that I never sit and watch TV, I’m always doing something like editing my Youtube videos when Honey BooBoo or Toddlers in Tiaras is on.

Well, now I see a trailer for UNCESORED HoneyBooboo.

How much more disgusting can this show get? Well, disgusting to a city girl like me who doesn’t like to get muddy or buggy or even sit on grass because I break out in hives. And bodily functions just aren’t ladylike, June! Different strokes for different folks for sure.

So what’s more disgusting than bobbing for pigs’ feet?

Mayonnaise fights?

Throwing up Swiss chard?

Eating snot?

Farting every minute?

Living with a chicken shitting everywhere?

Living with a pig shitting everywhere?

Not taking a shower in over 100 degree weather?

Scooping out pumpkin guts with your hands?

Getting your head stuck in a pumpkin and everyone abandons you?

Eating whatever the hell it is June mashes in a bowl with bare hands?

Having a forklift foot covered in gnats?

I don’t know, man. The Thanksgiving episode, I was ready to puke eleven minutes in!

So I guess I’ll be tuning in to see what could possibly be more disgusting than the horrors I’ve already witnessed…

As I’ve said before, this family has an incredible bond. There seems to be a lot of love there despite the barbs and different style of manners.

I totally give kudos to June for taking on the baby in stride, with not a second thought of where responsibility lies. She decided it’s hers and she owns it and I say she has more balls and strength than many people. We don’t even know who the dad is, I don’t think. I’m not sure, I’ve not seen every minute of every episode. She also was on Extreme Couponing and she’s good at that too. We originally met this family, and many more like them, on Toddlers in Tiaras which I’m watching right now as I write this. Of course, her stress is manifested in her weight but I think so much of it is that she’s never had a chance in life. She’s applied to all these shows in hopes of gaining something more to her life and her wish has come true!

This show could give her a chance to reinvent herself and empower her to provide even more for her kids.

However, amongst the subtitled jibberjabber and booisms, there is also a dark undertow of a family that could sure use any money TLC has to give them.

I’m not sure who works or goes to school except Sugar Bear. But there is reference to school and homework so the girls go. June has mentioned days off so I think she works too. June talks about how they all sleep all day.

They sure eat all day.

One of the girls suffered a detached retina when Sugar Bear tossed the keys at her. We all do that, it was a freak accident. But kind of bizarre when you consider all the crazy shit that family gets up to. Things such as being pulled behind a smoke belching tractor giving them cancer for life and kicking up gravel. Bobbing for raw pigs’ feet in 101 degree weather can’t be healthy. Teenage pregnancy, absent fathers. Lice. Gnats. Poverty. Filth. Never ending bowls of junk food. A train behind the house.

It’s a rough life for sure.

TLC should give these people a little new home in a decent neighbourhood. Even one of those fancy trailer houses. June can work and Sugar Bear can work or not, depending on that latest accident.

TLC is making big bucks from this family and it would be nice to see a few episodes of them moving to better digs and creating a new life. Alana can take dance classes and do better at pageants. June can keep couponing. The new baby has a hope in hell of a decent future.

A show likes Honey Booboo does make one think. Much like when I watch the shows about conjoined twins or the guy with a million tumours on his body. Or the morbidly obese people who often die at the end of the show. Reality TV is indeed our new freak show. But of course, “freak” isn’t a politically correct term anymore.

Neither are freak shows.

 

 

I’ve seen shows about all the “different” people who were put out of work when the freak shows were banned. What kind of lives do they have now? Many were happy to have a role in the world and a good paying job and home, a family.

I’m old enough to have seen “freaks” at the local fair in London, Ontario. Werewolf man(fake), the lady who had tubes for a head (fake - she's actually in that video up there too!), two headed calf, conjoined twin embryos, little people sitting in little stalls either glaring or watching TV and so on. I’ve been to Niagara Falls Ontario in the seventies when there were still real dungeons and torture chambers and freaks of nature exhibits. Some were living people such as the world’s tallest woman and others were stuffed such as several two-headed creatures. Those places were always crowded and thirty years later, still are. Although the exhibits are totally tame and lame now with mostly celebrities and movie stars, people still come to stare and marvel. The vibe emanating from the darkness of those who are different isn’t there anymore in the new world.

Certainly, Honey BooBoo and family aren’t “freaks” but they are different enough from most of us that it gives us a chance to see the world from a different perspective. Whether that’s good or bad, I’m not sure. But the fact is, these are real people and this is their world.

It’s kind of neat to peek into other people’s world now and again.

 

I have to admit that the TLC is having some fun with Season 2. The one dinner scene was epic.